Reader's Workshop

April/May

Doomed to - or blessed with - eternal life after drinking from a magic spring, the Tuck family wanders about trying to live as inconspicuously and comfortably as they can. When ten-year-old Winnie Foster stumbles on their secret, the Tucks take her home and explain why living forever at one age is less a blessing than it might seem. Complications arise when Winnie is followed by a stranger who wants to market the spring water for a fortune . . .

February/March

The City of Ember By Jeanne Duprau The City of Ember is the only light in the dark world. Beyond Ember, the darkness goes on forever in all directions. When the children of the city of Ember finish school, they begin work at 12 years of age. . . Lina Mayfleet desperately wants to be a messenger. Messengers spend their days outside, running from one corner of the city to the other. Instead, she draws the dreaded job of Pipeworks laborer, which means she’ll be stuck in tunnels deep underground. Doon Harrow draws messenger – and asks to trade with Lina! Doon wants to be underground. That’s where the generator is, and Doon has ideas about how to fix it. For as long as anyone can remember, the great lights of Ember have kept the endless darkness that surrounds the city at bay. But now the lights are starting to flicker. When Lina finds fragments of an ancient parchment, she and Doon put the pieces together to discover a message that seems to be directions out of the city.

October/November

We are reading a Pine Tree Book, Bird in a Box, by Andrea Davis Pinkney. This is a Historical Fiction.

Otis, Willie, and Hibernia are three children with a lot in common: they've all lost a loved one, they each have secret dreams, and they won't stop fighting for what they want. And they're also a lot like their hero, famed boxer Joe Louis. Throughout this moving novel, their lives gradually converge to form friendship, family, and love. Their trials and triumphs echo those of Joe Louis, as he fights to become the heavyweight boxing champion.

Andrea Pinkney masterfully weaves in factual information about Joe Louis and actual radio commentary from his fights, enriching the narrative of this uniquely rendered and beautifully written novel.

September

In Reader's Workshop we will begin the year reading a realistic fiction novel titled There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom, by Louis Sachar. We will dialogue about the characters, relationships between these characters, and the multitude of problems presented in this book. We are asking and answering tough questions about situations within the book - we're working to apply what we've learned, as well to empathize and identify with characters.

Summary: Fifth grader Bradley Chalkers is bright, imaginative, antisocial and friendless. Unlike the kids at school, who hate him, Bradley's collection of chipped and broken little pottery animals allows him to be brave, smart and vulnerable; he uses them to resolve the rejection of peers and adults. Jeff, a new boy at school, offers friendship but then withdraws his offer, because Bradley is hard to like. Enter Carla Davis, new school counselor, who is caring and funny, and who gradually helps restore Bradley's self-confidence. Feelings and emotions are strongly evoked in this touching and serious story of a disturbed child that is infused with humor and insight.

The images below can help us as we practice asking higher level thinking questions or "diving deep" questions with our reading. These are questions which require more inferring and analytical thinking. (COSTA’s)

April/May

Fever 1793We are working on a unit in Historical Fiction. As we read FEVER together, the kids will choose another Historical Fiction to read in Book Clubs. This gives the students an opportunity to have deep discussions about a common text. They are using these books as models as we begin writing our own historical fiction stories.During the summer of 1793, Mattie Cook lives above the family coffee shop with her widowed mother and grandfather. Mattie spends her days avoiding chores and making plans to turn the family business into the finest Philadelphia has ever seen. But then the fever breaks out.Disease sweeps the streets, destroying everything in its path and turning Mattie's world upside down. At her feverish mother's insistence, Mattie flees the city with her grandfather. But she soon discovers that the sickness is everywhere, and Mattie must learn quickly how to survive in a city turned frantic with disease.

December

We are reading one of our PINE TREE books! The author Sharon Draper will be visiting in March.

Eleven-year-old Melody has a photographic memory. Her head is like a video camera that is always recording. Always. And there's no delete button. She's the smartest kid in her whole school—but no one knows it. Most people—her teachers and doctors included—don't think she's capable of learning, and up until recently her school days consisted of listening to the same preschool-level alphabet lessons again and again and again. If only she could speak up, if only she could tell people what she thinks and knows . . . but she can't, because Melody can't talk. She can't walk. She can't write. Being stuck inside her head is making Melody go out of her mind—that is, until she discovers something that will allow her to speak for the first time ever. At last Melody has a voice . . . but not everyone around her is ready to hear it.From multiple Coretta Scott King Award winner Sharon M. Draper comes a story full of heartache and hope. Get ready to meet a girl whose voice you'll never, ever forget.

November

We were fortunate to meet Gordon Korman and learn about how he wrote 78 books! His first novel was published when he was 14! We are analyzing his characters and making predictions as we read this adventurous book.

Summary: After a mean collector named Swindle cons him out of his most valuable baseball card, Griffin Bing must put together a band of misfits to break into Swindle's compound and recapture the card. There are many things standing in their way -- a menacing guard dog, a high-tech security system, a very secret hiding place, and their inability to drive -- but Griffin and his team are going to get back what's rightfully his . . . even if hijinks ensue.

We read my first published book! Check out the kids reviews on Amazon.com.

Summary: Secrets...everybody has secrets. Who do you tell your secrets to? Your mother? Tori has secrets and she certainly wouldn't tell her mother, especially now that she has to live in Hawaii with her. Why can't she be back home in Michigan with her dad and friends? At least she could talk to her friends about what she took and what's been happening to her. No one would even believe her. Except now she's a thief and a liar.

= basic level; the answer is found on the page

= both the BOOK and BRAIN are needed! The answer is found by using the information in the book to infer or “read between the lines.”

= higher level; evaluate, imagine, hypothesize, judge, predict

Our Class Interactive Read Aloud

We will begin reading "Out of My Mind" by Sharon Draper when we return from Spring Break. I would like for all students to have their own copy. You may order one this week from me (I will have them ordered at a discount of $5.00) or you can purchase at the book fair(for$6.99), online at Amazon, or at a local book store. We will be highlighting, notetaking, and marking pages as we go so it's best that each student has their own copy.

Out of My Mindby Sharon Draper

Summary:Eleven-year-old Melody has a photographic memory. Her head is like a video camera that is always recording. Always. And there’s no delete button. She’s the smartest kid in her whole school—but NO ONE knows it.

Most people—her teachers and doctors included—don’t think she’s capable of learning, and up until recently her school days consisted of listening to the same preschool-level alphabet lessons again and again and again. If only she could speak up, if only she could tell people what she thinks and knows. But she can’t. She can’t talk. She can’t walk. She can’t write.

Being stuck inside her head is making Melody go out of her mind—that is, until she discovers something that will allow her to speak for the first time ever. At last Melody has a voice . . . but not everyone around her is ready to hear it.

(March)

READING MONTH!!The kids are busy reading a variety of genre this month. At school we are learning the characteristics of each genre.

Out of the Dust - Historical Fiction (written through poetry)

(February)

Number the Stars ~ Read AloudWe read Number the Stars and had many deep discussions as we learned about this conflict between Character and Society. Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think about life before the war. But it's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching in their town. The Nazi won't stop. The Jews of Denmark are being "relocated, " so Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be part of the family.

Then Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission. Somehow she must find the strength and courage to save her best friend's life. There's no turning back now.

Guinea Dog~ Read Aloud

We are currently reading the Pine Tree book Guinea Dog. It's about a boy who has always wanted a pet dog while his dad would never agree. One day his mom brought home another pet...a guinea pig! It's not exactly what Rufus ordered but this is a story about how he learned a guinea pig could be very much like a dog. The author Patrick Jennings will be visiting Doherty in March as we conclude the Pine Tree reading program.

Tuck Everlasting ~ Read Aloud

We are currently reading Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. This is a rich text with lots of figurative language. We are analyzing characters and figurative language. We are practicing RECIPROCAL TEACHING which includes predicting, clarifying, visualizing, questioning, and summarizing. We are learning to not only answer but to generate questions that are thought provoking and higher level critical thinking. Please look below at the three levels of COSTA's questions.

Summary: Doomed to—or blessed with—eternal life after drinking from a magic spring, the Tuck family wanders about trying to live as inconspicuously and comfortably as they can. When ten-year-old Winnie Foster stumbles on their secret, the Tucks take her home and explain why living forever at one age is less a blessing that it might seem. Complications arise when Winnie is followed by a stranger who wants to market the spring water for a fortune.